Mpower and Aditya Birla World Academy – Conversations on Mental Health

Conversations on Mental Health – Since the 1990s, mental health has ranked among the top causes of health burden globally, and this trend doesn’t seem to be abating. Nearly 197.3 million Indians are thought to need mental health treatment. Mpower, a mental health social enterprise and Aditya Birla World Academy, both components of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, led a number of innovative initiatives to raise awareness of the escalating mental health crisis. The two most well-known campaigns to raise awareness about mental health among the several initiatives were #PledgeForMentalHealth by Mpower and The Happy Place initiative by Aditya Birla World Academy, an interschool competition to do so.

The #PledgeForMentalHealth was a virtual campaign that invited Indian business brands to join forces in raising awareness about mental health and to commit to implementing one workplace policy that is supportive of it. An organisation might promise to adopt flexible work schedules or a hybrid work model, or it might guarantee that all of its employees have free access to mental health services like counselling and the like. On World Mental Health Day, 65 corporations raised almost 7.5 million followers by taking the mental health pledge, which greatly increased awareness of this issue. In order to assist their staff, certain well-known businesses, including Aditya Birla Group firms, IPSOS, Mudrex, Artech Infosystems, Neuron Energy, etc., took part in the #PledgeForMentalHealth.

Conversations on Mental Health

In the meantime, The Happy Place, a groundbreaking project by the Aditya Birla World Academy in partnership with Mpower, was launched. It qualified as India’s first ever student-led mental health festival, which was held on the 7th and 8th of October. It promoted resilience while raising awareness of mental health issues among school-age children through a variety of competitive platforms, including dance, music, street plays, poetry, videography, and photography. In addition, Mpower organised a number of other significant programmes, including support groups that addressed and discussed a range of issues relating to mental health, particularly those involving marriage and relationships, young people with anxiety and stress, families of patients with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Parkinson’s, caregivers of substance users, dealing with the loss of a loved one, etc., which will help.

With the cooperation of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mpower continues to support its 24/7 hotline in addition to all of the aforementioned initiatives (BMC). Through its many offerings, the helpline has opened up access to mental health counselling for more than 99,452 callers, impacting millions of lives. The 24 hour, 7 day a week, toll-free hotline number is 1800-120-820050.

Dr. Neerja Birla, a mental health advocate and the founder and chairperson of Mpower, commented on the different initiatives, saying, “Mental health is one of the most crucial issues of our generation, and there is a silent crisis that is devouring millions of people across the country. World Mental Health Day is commemorated annually on October 10 with the goal of bringing attention to mental health issues, mobilising support, and facilitating access to mental health counselling for those who require it. At Mpower, we decided to commemorate this day with a number of activities that had been in the works for months.